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Vt. woman disfigured in attack reveals new face

By RODRIQUE NGOWI Associated Press

Posted:
05/01/2013 10:06:50 AM MDT

Updated:
05/01/2013 09:01:05 PM MDT

Click photo to enlarge

This photo combination shows Carmen Blandin Tarleton, who suffered chemical burns over 80 percent of her body when her estranged husband doused her with lye in June 2007. The undated photo at left, provided by the Blandin family, shows Tarleton before the attack. The center photo, provided by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, shows Tarleton in July 2011. The photo at right shows Tarleton on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, after her successful face transplant in February.

BOSTON—A Vermont woman revealed her new face Wednesday, six years after her ex-husband disfigured her by dousing her with industrial-strength lye, and said she went through "what some may call hell" but has found a way to be happy.

Carmen Blandin Tarleton of Thetford had face transplant surgery at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital in February and spoke publicly for the first time at a news conference at the hospital Wednesday.

"I'm now in a better place, mentally and emotionally, than I ever could have imagined six years ago," said Tarleton, a former transplant nurse. "I want to share my experience with others, so they may find that strength inside themselves to escape their own pain.

Carmen Blandin Tarleton, of Thetford, Vt,, embraces her surgeon Dr. Bohdan Pomahac during a news conference at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The 44-year-old mother of two underwent the transplant in February after a 2007 attack in which her estranged husband doused her with industrial strength lye, burning more than 80 percent of her body. ((AP Photo/Charles Krupa))

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In 2007, the 44-year-old mother of two was attacked by her then-husband, Herbert Rodgers, who believed she was seeing another man. Police say he went to the house looking for that man, then went into a fury directed toward Tarleton, striking her with a bat and pouring lye from a squeeze bottle onto her face.

When police arrived, Tarleton was trying to crawl to a shower to wash away the chemical. It already had distorted her face.

In 2009, Rodgers pleaded guilty to maiming Tarleton in exchange for a prison sentence of at least 30 years.

"I learned that ... forgiveness doesn't condone anything he did and it's not about him—it's about forgiving him, it's forgiving myself, it's allowing myself to move forward and not getting stuck in the tragedy of that night," said Tarleton, who has undergone 55 surgeries during the past five years.

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During the face transplant surgery, more than 30 surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses worked for more than 15 hours to replace her skin, muscles, tendons and nerves, the hospital said.

The face donor was a Williamstown, Mass., woman named Cheryl Denelli Righter who died of a sudden stroke, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Righter's daughter, Marinda, told Tarleton on Wednesday that she looked beautiful, adding she was certain her mother had somehow picked Tarleton.

Carmen Blandin Tarleton of Thetford, Vt., embraces her surgeon, Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, during a news conference at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass., Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The 44-year-old mother of two underwent a successful face transplant in February after a 2007 attack in which her estranged husband doused her with industrial strength lye, burning more than 80 percent of her body. ((AP Photo/Charles Krupa))

"They are both mothers, they are both survivors, they are both beacons of light," she said.

Righter said that after meeting Tarleton for the first time Tuesday, she felt overjoyed for the first time in a long time.

"I get to feel my mother's skin again, I get to see my mother's freckles, and through you, I get to see my mother live on," she said before going to Tarleton to hug and kiss her again. "This is truly a blessing."

Tarleton is legally blind and read her remarks from a tablet. She thanked Righter's family for what she called "a tremendous gift" that's greatly alleviated the physical pain she'd felt daily.

She referred to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing and said the city is "facing the challenges of pain and forgiveness."

"There is a lot to learn and take from horrific events that happen," Tarleton said. "I want others to know that they need not give up on feeling (like) themselves when tragedy strikes, but instead they can make a choice to find the good and allow that to help them heal."

Tarleton described how it feels to touch and wash her face since her transplant.

She said she still doesn't have full sensation on her new face, but she is experiencing tingling in certain areas. As all that tissue starts to settle, she feels the sensation change almost every week, she said.

The tingling and other sensations are triggered by the regrowth of nerves that were connected during transplant surgery, said Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, the lead surgeon for the face transplant and the director of Plastic Surgery Transplantation at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

"Carmen will be able to feel her face, and gradually, close to what we feel (on) our faces," he said.

"I have been on this incredible journey for the last six years and receiving this wonderful gift ends this chapter of my life," Tarleton said. "What a great way to move forward with what life has for me now."

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